The present disclosure relates to processing and transmitting personal data, the dissemination of which is restricted by federal law.
Due to federal privacy laws and the inconsistency of electronic medical record deployments, healthcare facilities (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes, residential mental health facilities, prison medical wards) are often unable to obtain information about health care services patients receive before or after healthcare facility encounters. Having access to these data may allow healthcare facilities to better serve patients. Gaining an understanding of care that occurs in the outpatient setting is needed to evaluate potential for changes in the process of inpatient care. Not having this information may lead to unrecognized suboptimal care and ultimately to healthcare facility readmission for which the healthcare facility may be held accountable. Outpatient healthcare providers such as pharmacies and physicians generate private healthcare data about patients, including medical and prescription drug data, and administrative healthcare claims data. Data that associates patient identity with health information is known as protected health information (PHI). Healthcare providers can store protected health information in electronic databases for future use in patient care and insurance claims processing. Healthcare facilities could identify changes in the process of care provided (e.g., patient and provider education, adherence follow-up) by having information on trends in health care utilization before and after health care facility encounters. Federal privacy laws, however, make obtaining this information a cumbersome process which would add considerable expense to operations.